one.
“You mean, there was no one there to stop it?”
“I don’t mean to give you the wrong idea or impression, but it was just a shock to see those flames raging. And the firemen were not there yet.” He shook his head.
“Well, there was a crowd that gathered. I don’t mean a big crowd, but there were some curious guys there, especially one that was standing off by himself—all alone.” Hamilton stopped to explain. “See, I parked the car at a nearby store and walked over to the location of the fire. There were quite a few watching, but this one guy stood in front of the burning car like he was in a trance, like he was hypnotized. I was curious and wondered what his great fascination was, so I walked up to him and asked, ‘What’s going on here?’ ” Dan smiled. “I don’t know if he thought I was some stupid bastard or what. It certainly was obvious that we had a hell of a fire in front of us and I sure didn’t need anyone to tell me what was going on. I just was trying to talk to the guy and maybe get some explanation of what happened, how the fire started or something. But he just ignored me He didn’t bother to answer me or to even acknowledge that I existed.”
Detective Weir asked, “Can you describe this fellow?”
“Sure. He was six feet tall or maybe a little above that, a well-built guy who weighed at least one-sixty or one sixty-five. What struck me was his hair. It was funny. It was curly in a tangled sort of way, an off-color brown that looked like it was out in the sun too long. It fell down over his ears, behind the back and over his collar. He sure as hell was not an ad for any magazine.”
“Do you remember what he was wearing, how he was dressed?” Linnert questioned.
Hamilton nodded with an assured expression. “I remember that he was wearing a white T-shirt and blue shorts, and I wondered if the bugs were biting him like they were me. But he was puffing away on a cigarette, totally wrapped up in that fire.”
“What did you do after the guy ignored you?” Weir asked.
“I wasn’t exactly thrilled with that, so I just walked away. I left him standing there by himself. I walked over by the river so I could see the fire from the other side.”
“What happened after you walked away?”
“I watched the fire from this other spot and was there, I’d say, about fifteen minutes, maybe a little more. You know how easy it is to get mesmerized by a fire. So I may have been there twenty minutes; then I walked back to my original spot. He was gone and I never saw that guy again.
“By this time, I was getting all bit up by mosquitoes and other bugs, since I was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved T-shirt. I wanted to get back to my place and change clothes. But before I left, a guy drove up in a four-wheel-drive vehicle. He told me that he saw some suspicious individual, a white man, running away from the fire. He also told me that the burning automobile looked like the Ford Explorer that the police were looking for. We exchanged some thoughts and wondered if the guy he saw running away might have been the same man I saw staring at the fire, the guy I spoke to but never got an answer from.
“Anyway, I left and went home to change clothes. I put on a pair of long pants, a pair of shoes and a long-sleeved shirt. And then I went back to the fire. Before long, the firemen were there on the job and they began dousing and running in all directions, and it wasn’t too long before they had things under control. By this time there were sheriff’s men, officers, detectives, all kinds of investigators and specialists joining in.”
“That was a pretty exciting experience for you,” Cam Weir commented.
“It sure was. But I don’t think that I want to see something like that again.”
Expressing appreciation, the detectives thanked Hamilton for his cooperation. Handing the subject his card, Cameron said, “If you think of anything else, please give us a call.”
“I sure
“You mean, there was no one there to stop it?”
“I don’t mean to give you the wrong idea or impression, but it was just a shock to see those flames raging. And the firemen were not there yet.” He shook his head.
“Well, there was a crowd that gathered. I don’t mean a big crowd, but there were some curious guys there, especially one that was standing off by himself—all alone.” Hamilton stopped to explain. “See, I parked the car at a nearby store and walked over to the location of the fire. There were quite a few watching, but this one guy stood in front of the burning car like he was in a trance, like he was hypnotized. I was curious and wondered what his great fascination was, so I walked up to him and asked, ‘What’s going on here?’ ” Dan smiled. “I don’t know if he thought I was some stupid bastard or what. It certainly was obvious that we had a hell of a fire in front of us and I sure didn’t need anyone to tell me what was going on. I just was trying to talk to the guy and maybe get some explanation of what happened, how the fire started or something. But he just ignored me He didn’t bother to answer me or to even acknowledge that I existed.”
Detective Weir asked, “Can you describe this fellow?”
“Sure. He was six feet tall or maybe a little above that, a well-built guy who weighed at least one-sixty or one sixty-five. What struck me was his hair. It was funny. It was curly in a tangled sort of way, an off-color brown that looked like it was out in the sun too long. It fell down over his ears, behind the back and over his collar. He sure as hell was not an ad for any magazine.”
“Do you remember what he was wearing, how he was dressed?” Linnert questioned.
Hamilton nodded with an assured expression. “I remember that he was wearing a white T-shirt and blue shorts, and I wondered if the bugs were biting him like they were me. But he was puffing away on a cigarette, totally wrapped up in that fire.”
“What did you do after the guy ignored you?” Weir asked.
“I wasn’t exactly thrilled with that, so I just walked away. I left him standing there by himself. I walked over by the river so I could see the fire from the other side.”
“What happened after you walked away?”
“I watched the fire from this other spot and was there, I’d say, about fifteen minutes, maybe a little more. You know how easy it is to get mesmerized by a fire. So I may have been there twenty minutes; then I walked back to my original spot. He was gone and I never saw that guy again.
“By this time, I was getting all bit up by mosquitoes and other bugs, since I was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved T-shirt. I wanted to get back to my place and change clothes. But before I left, a guy drove up in a four-wheel-drive vehicle. He told me that he saw some suspicious individual, a white man, running away from the fire. He also told me that the burning automobile looked like the Ford Explorer that the police were looking for. We exchanged some thoughts and wondered if the guy he saw running away might have been the same man I saw staring at the fire, the guy I spoke to but never got an answer from.
“Anyway, I left and went home to change clothes. I put on a pair of long pants, a pair of shoes and a long-sleeved shirt. And then I went back to the fire. Before long, the firemen were there on the job and they began dousing and running in all directions, and it wasn’t too long before they had things under control. By this time there were sheriff’s men, officers, detectives, all kinds of investigators and specialists joining in.”
“That was a pretty exciting experience for you,” Cam Weir commented.
“It sure was. But I don’t think that I want to see something like that again.”
Expressing appreciation, the detectives thanked Hamilton for his cooperation. Handing the subject his card, Cameron said, “If you think of anything else, please give us a call.”
“I sure
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